Similar long-term efficacy of dual therapy containing raltegravir and a boosted protease inhibitor versus standard triple therapies in pretreated HIV-1-infected patients in a retrospective, real-life cohort of 14 years.

OBJECTIVES: Raltegravir is used in many antiretroviral combinations, but its use in treatment-experienced patients without knowledge of baseline resistance is discussed controversially as a number of comparative studies have shown a higher rate of virological failure. However, it has been used frequently for the management of treatment failure, as it was the first integrase inhibitor to become available, and thus offered new options for patients with multiple resistance. The strategic use of raltegravir in this setting is examined in this study. METHODS: In order to examine the efficacy of raltegravir in second and later lines of antiretroviral combinations, data for 740 patients from three clinical cohorts were analysed with a focus on the combinations that were used. These were stratified into the combination of two nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors and raltegravir (2NRTIs + RAL), the combination of a boosted protease inhibitor and raltegravir (bPI + RAL), and other raltegravir-containing combinations. RESULTS: The overall rate of virological suppression to < 50 HIV-1 RNA copies/mL was 69.5%. Although the baseline rate of virological suppression was higher for 2NRTIs + RAL than for the other strata, the outcomes were similar for all three groups at weeks 24, 48, 72 and 96. CONCLUSIONS: These data indicate that, in a real-life setting, raltegravir can be used with a high virological success rate in treatment-experienced patients, and that the different combinations analysed (2NRTIs + RAL, bPI + RAL and others) show comparable rates of virological suppression.

Pathogen-reduced Ebola virus convalescent plasma: first steps towards standardization of manufacturing and quality control including assessment of Ebola-specific neutralizing antibodies.

BACKGROUND: Ebola virus disease is a public health emergency of international concern, and enormous efforts are being made in the development of vaccines and therapies. Ebola virus convalescent plasma is a promising anti-infective treatment of Ebola virus disease. Therefore, we developed and implemented a pathogen-reduced Ebola virus convalescent plasma concept in accordance with national, European and global regulatory framework. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ebola virus convalescent plasma manufacture and distribution was managed by a collection centre, two medical centres and an expert group from the European Blood Alliance. Ebola virus convalescent plasma was collected twice with an interval of 61 days from a donor recovering from Ebola virus disease in Germany. After pathogen reduction, the plasma was analysed for Ebola virus-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies and its Ebola virus neutralizing activity. RESULTS: Convalescent plasma could be collected without adverse events. Anti-Ebola virus IgG titres and Ebola-specific neutralizing antibodies in convalescent plasma were only slightly reduced after pathogen reduction treatment with S59 amotosalen/UVA. A patient in Italy with Ebola virus disease was treated with convalescent plasma without apparent adverse effects. DISCUSSION: As proof of principle, we describe a concept and practical implementation of pathogen-reduced Ebola virus convalescent plasma manufacture, quality control and its clinical application to an Ebola virus disease patient.

Sex and Gender Differences in Rilpivirine based ART - Data from the HIVCENTER Frankfurt.

OBJECTIVE: While Rilpivirine has shown high overall response rates in treatment-naïve patients without sex and gender specific differences in clinical trials, Sex and gender specific data in treatment experienced patients receiving rilpivirine are still limited. We conducted a 48 week efficacy and safety analysis in naïve and treatment experienced men and women using retrospective data from the HIVCENTER Frankfurt. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this retrospective observational study data of all patients who received a rilpivirine based regimen at the HIVCENTER between March 2011 and December 2015 were analyzed. Primary endpoint was the proportion of patients with any discontinuation until week 48. Virologic response rates (FDA snapshot analysis; HIV-1 RNA <50 copies/mL) were assessed at week 48. RESULTS: 194 patients (34% female) were included in the analysis. 74% were treatment-experienced and 26% naïve, respectively. Discontinuations were observed in 31 (15.9%) patients. Regarding sex differences, the proportion of discontinuations was significantly higher in women than in men (24.2% vs. 11.7%; p=0.024; ODDS-Ratio = 2.41; CI 1.12 - 5.18). Virologic failure occurred in 8 PLWHIV (4.1%). CONCLUSION: While virologic overall response rates to rilpivirine based ART were high for both treatment-experienced and -naïve patients the proportion of discontinuations was significantly higher in women (24.2% vs. 11.7%; p = 0.024; ODDS-Ratio = 2.41; CI 1.12 - 5.18). Although the total number of patients with virologic failure was low (4.1%), the higher rate of ART discontinuations in female patients receiving RPV require close monitoring in the first months of treatment addressing special needs of women living with HIV.

Efficacy of raltegravir-containing regimens in antiretroviral-naïve and -experienced individuals in routine clinical practice.

Raltegravir is one of the standard antiretroviral therapy (ART) options in treatment-experienced and -naïve patients. However, efficacy data from clinical practice are scarce. Therefore, the efficacy of raltegravir-containing ART in clinical practice was investigated retrospectively. In all, 295 treatment-naïve and -experienced patients were analysed using two different cut-offs for virological failure (200 or 50 copies/ml). The response at week 24 and onwards was evaluated as a 'time to loss of virological response' analysis and estimated as a survival function. Additionally, dual therapy regimens (raltegravir plus boosted protease inhibitor) were compared to standard combinations in experienced patients performing a snapshot analysis at weeks 24 and 48, as well as a time to loss of virological response analysis. A total of 86.2% of the 64 treatment-naïve patients maintained virological suppression using a cut-off of 200 copies/ml (c/ml), while 67.7% maintained virological suppression with a 50 copies/ml cut-off from week 24 until the end of observation. Among the 231 treatment-experienced patients, 84.8% maintained virological suppression from week 24 onwards using a cut-off of 200 copies/ml; and 71.0% using 50 copies/ml, respectively. In the subgroup snapshot analysis at week 24, 98.3% (86.7% using a cut-off of 50 copies/ml) and at week 48, 93.3% (80.0%) of patients responded to dual therapy. Patients who were receiving a standard background therapy responded in 88.3% (81.3%) at week 24 and in 86.0% (80.7%) at week 48. Differences were not significant. This study shows again the overall long-term efficacy of raltegravir-based ART and furthermore gives reference for a comparable efficacy of dual and standard nucleos(t)ide reverse transcriptase inhibitor-backbone regimens in experienced patients on raltegravir over a period of 48 weeks in a real-life cohort where patients with severe comorbidities were included.